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If you're looking for offbeat fiction, fantasy, scifi, essay, or even rare bits of poetry, you've come to the right place. Enjoy!

Shadow and Shade

"I stayed up all night finishing Shadow and Shade, a fascinating fantasy world of magic, family, and what happens when the two collide. A tough and enchanting tale that will have you listening to the forest and talking to the wolves. I can't wait to see what Gerrard writes next!" Rebecca Cantrell, New York Times bestselling author of The World Beneath

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Someone Else’s Clone

Barry stood at the door to baggage claim three, surrounded by photographers and newspaper reporters. He straightened his tie for the fourth time. The baggage claim area was starting to fill up with people from the flight from Tallahassee. He didn’t see his brother yet.

“What are you going to do when you see him?” the reporter for Action News asked.

“I’m going to walk over and shake his hand.”

“What if he isn’t interested?” the reporter from the World News asked.

“Then… I guess I’ll shake it anyway.”

People laughed. Barry’s mother shrugged off two reporters and walked over to her son. “I know it’s just about too late, but one last time. Please don’t do this.”

“Why? He’s as much your son as—there he is!”

Barry strode through the doors into baggage claim three. The swarm of reporters followed him. Cameras flashed everywhere, from reporters, TV news, and smart phones and tablet cameras from the rest of the passengers. Barry’s brother Larry rolled his eyes when he saw him. Larry wore blue khakis and a Henley sweater, the same as Barry. They hadn’t planned that.

“Larry! Larry Wilson!”

Larry turned around and came face to face with a dozen flash bulbs. He was better off looking at his brother. “Yeah. That’s me.”

Barry held out his hand. “Barry Wilson. I’m your brother.”

Larry sighed. “I’m your clone. Not your brother.”

“Who cares!” Barry grabbed his hand, shook it, and pulled him into a hug. People applauded. Larry pat Barry on the back once. Twice.

“All right, bro, let’s not go crazy here,” Larry said.

Barry pat him on the back. “Sorry. I know we just met. I’m just really excited to meet you.”

“You said you’d keep it low-key.”

“This is low-key. You should’ve seen the list of reporters we had to keep away.” Barry came up alongside him. He waved at the photographers who scrambled to get in front of the two of them and take their picture.

“History in the making. Lucky us,” Larry said.

“Hey. None of this matters. You’re saving my life. Thank you for coming here.”

Barry hugged him, still turned to face the cameras. Barry had a rare blood condition that had been slowly killing him. Even family donors had been rejected by his body. A week ago, the DNA database search turned up a perfect match living in Florida. So perfect, in fact, that the technician hadn’t believed her eyes.

Barry had found the donor to save his life. Larry found out that he was someone else’s clone.